KARACHI:
Poaching of endangered sea turtles continues unabated along the coast of Pakistan, posing a further threat to the species’ continued existence.
Karachi, a major port in the south, is the epicentre of an illicit traffic in juvenile turtles, where hundreds of aquariums, both large and little, buy and sell the animals openly.
Last Monday, wildlife officers raided a store selling baby turtles on Burns Road, an older area in Karachi’s southern district.
Wildlife advocates, however, claim that this is only one of several illegal aquariums and animal markets operating in the city.
Predators and human activities such as pollution, boat hits, marine trash, and (reckless) fishing add to the long list of threats sea turtles face. Mahera Omar, a wildlife activist based in Karachi, told Anadolu that the rising trend of poaching is adding to the multiplicity of concerns.
Turtles found in the ocean are marine animals. That’s exactly where they belong. And that’s why we need to do everything in our power to prevent more damage to their nesting grounds along the coast.
Turtles nest on beaches from October to February, and their eggs hatch in around 60 days. Hawke’s Bay and Sandspit beaches in Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub, have historically been the seabirds’ top choices for nesting.
The fact that many newborn turtles die in custody is a disturbing aspect of the illegal trade.
According to Naveed Soomro, an official of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) located in Karachi, the distinction between freshwater and saltwater turtles is to blame.
“The general public and the poachers themselves are clueless. Soomro told Anadolu that marine turtles require circumstances not found in aquariums.
Because of this, he continued, marine turtles only last a week or so after being poached, while freshwater turtles have a considerably better chance of surviving.
Marine Turtle Conservation Cell Chief Ashfaq Ali Memon of the provincial wildlife department agreed with Soomro, noting that people’s ignorance of the differences between the two species is a major factor in the high fatality rates.
But he insisted that poaching has decreased to a “huge extent” because of “effective measures” adopted by authorities.
Increase in egg theft reported.
Anyone from casual pet owners to quack doctors who sell young turtle body parts as aphrodisiacs are among the market for these animals.
According to Soomro, the poaching of eggs is more common than that of newborn turtles because these eggs are used as an aphrodisiac by many untrained medical professionals.
Rather of helping the poor creature, “egg poaching has turned out to be more disastrous for this poor creature because of this false concept,” he said.
Memon argued that sea turtles and their eggs are not being poached on a large scale for profit.
But he admitted that reports of illegal trade in baby turtles and eggs persist along the extensive coasts of the Balochistan province in the southwest.
We are successfully protecting this species within a very small area (about 5 kilometres) in Karachi, he said.
Memon claims that, rather than poaching, human activities have contributed to the diminishing number of the endangered species.
According to him, “our staff meticulously collects the eggs and shifts them to three hatcheries for the complete 60-day period,” with the hatchlings being released into the ocean after 60 days.
Nesting habitats disappearing
Traditional sea turtle nesting grounds in Pakistan are quickly disappearing, adding to the pressures already facing this species.
According to Adnan Hamid, a renowned wildlife expert, 25-30% of turtle nesting grounds have been lost in the South Asian country over the past decade due to increasing water pollution, rubbish dumping on beaches, and careless fishing.
Sandspit and Hawke’s Bay beaches are among the eleven largest in the world for green turtle breeding, but he stated they have been virtually destroyed due to a number of issues.
According to Memon, an officer with the city’s wildlife department, roughly 70 percent of all turtle habitats have been harmed by unchecked human intrusion, growing pollution, and the dumping of “all of Karachi’s garbage” into the Arabian Sea.
He called items like plastic bags and diapers that can be seen on beaches “killers” for the turtles.
The major sea turtle breeding area spans 5 miles of coastline, and there were only a handful of houses there in 2000.
According to Memon, all five species of sea turtles used to nest on Pakistani beaches until the late 1990s. This includes the olive ridley, green turtle, leatherback, loggerhead, and hawksbill.
Unfortunately, he said, the breeding grounds have declined, and we now only have green turtles.
Population estimates that fluctuate
Experts disagree on whether the population of marine turtles has increased or decreased, but they do agree that human development of beaches poses a threat to these creatures.
Memon claims that due to “better protection” of nesting areas, there has been a “little” increase in their numbers during the past few years.
When nesting, green turtles require sand that is relatively soft. He said that the increased egg-laying and egg-collecting was due to the fact that “we have taken effective measures to protect the soft sand areas of the two beaches.”
Contrarily, he said, development on hard sand, necessary breeding ground for olive ridley turtles despite their lesser size compared to green turtles, has wiped out their nesting grounds.
The IUCN official Soomro stated that the population of green turtles had declined in recent years, although “not to a great extent.”
Muhammad Moazzam Khan, technical adviser for marine fisheries at WWF-Pakistan’s Karachi office, disagrees and says the population has increased.
The number of green turtles has increased by 5% in the last decade, he says.
Khan also reported an increase of olive ridley turtles in the offshore environment, although data on the other three species is scant.
“Sea turtles are an important part of the marine food web. Omar, the conservationist, explained that their presence promotes nutrient cycling, habitat alteration, and biodiversity regulation.
When they are no longer present, a chain reaction begins that threatens the existence of other organisms in the ecosystem. Therefore, we must ensure that wild places are kept that way, as our own survival depends on them.
